Jennifer Turner has been the director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center for 13 years. She has created meetings, exchanges and publications focusing on a variety of energy and environmental challenges facing China, particularly on water, energy and climate challenges, as well as environmental nongovernmental organizations, environmental journalism, and environmental governance in China. Her current projects are:

Jennifer also serves as editor of the Wilson Center’s journal, the China Environment Series, which is mailed to over 4,000 environmental practitioners around the world who work on China’s energy and environmental issues.

She received a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Comparative Politics in 1997 from Indiana University, Bloomington. In her dissertation, she examined local government innovation in implementing water policies in the China. Her current research focuses heavily on water and environmental activism in China.

EducationPh.D., Public Policy and Comparative Politics, Joint Program in School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Department of Political Science, Indiana University; B.A., Germanic Language and Literature, University of Illinois; Chinese Language Certificate, Chinese Language Center, Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan

HonorsOutstanding Faculty Award, by Psi Kappa Psi, Winthrop University, April 1999; Outstanding Instructor Award, Department of Political Science, Indiana University, February 1997; Indiana University International Programs Exchange Fellowship, for research at Hangzhou University, China; MacArthur Travel Grant, by the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace, dissertation research in China 1994-1995; Foreign Language Area Scholarship, by East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University, 1992; MacArthur Travel Grant, by the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace, research at the East-West Center, Hawaii, 1993

Report on a December 11, 2001, Wilson Center Conference focused on three major challenges posed by China's membership in the WTO: adjust in the rural sector; the impact on China's state run enterprises; and the myriad adjustments China will make as it meets its WTO obligations. Click on the attachment for a free PDF version. more

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The deal, a surprise to many, has been called, “historic.” Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced both countries will curb their greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades. Is this the game changer that those calling for action have been waiting for? Will this create momentum for increased international cooperation? And what does the deal address beyond carbon emissions? China Environment Forum Director, Jennifer Turner provides analysis.

"If China really can become more aggressive in actually enforcing their water pollution control laws, it would open up a lot of clean water for the people," Jennifer Turner said on BBC World News' "Impact."

We are excited to announce that our partner, Circle of Blue, is launching a partnership with Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory's Institute for Globally Transformative Technologies (LIGTT) to create Choke Point: Index, an innovative synthesis of on-the-ground reporting, analysis, polling, and open-source data technologies to focus on the United States, Canada, India, and other water-stressed regions.

The Asian Development Bank, a CEF Partner on Choke Point: Cities, recently released a comprehensive country environmental analysis report on the People's Republic of China. The report highlighted environmental achievements and substantial remaining challenges, while providing analysis on the drivers of environmental stress and recommendations for moving towards an environmentally sustainable future.

China has done an “admirable” job of moving coal-fired power plants out of Beijing, Jennifer Turner tells Voice of America. But “they already had a lot of coal plants, and they have been building more.”

By Jennifer Turner
Linden Ellis
Devin Kleinfield-Hayes
Quick Glance
Chinese investment currently makes up a small but fast-growing portion of clean energy projects in the United States. Some Chinese companies have established local manufacturing in the United States to address US regulators' concerns about job creation.
Some local governments in the United States have encouraged Chinese investment in clean energy by offering supportive policies such as tax credits.

Since winning the Olympic bid in 2001, Beijing has invested heavily in green construction materials and sustainable energy for the Olympic Village, and made momentous efforts to clean the city's notoriously dirty air and water.

For the eighth year in a row, the China Environment Forum hosts a screening of a film in the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. This year's film—The Blood of Yingzhou District—won best documentary short subject at the 2007 Academy Awards® for its portrayal of HIV/AIDS orphans in China.

Report on a December 11, 2001, Wilson Center Conference focused on three major challenges posed by China's membership in the WTO: adjust in the rural sector; the impact on China's state run enterprises; and the myriad adjustments China will make as it meets its WTO obligations. Click on the attachment for a free PDF version.

Authors Linden J. Ellis and Jennifer L. Turner examine the challenges China faces in improving its food safety record and opportunities for international cooperation. Such cooperation benefits both the global food market and could help China address human health and environmental threats stemming from food production and processing.